On Dec 4, 2010, at 10:45 AM, andrew.wallace wrote:
> Washington (CNN) -- U.S. officials at the Pentagon and State Department denied Friday knowing of any efforts to take down the WikiLeaks website or asking companies to do so.
>>http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/12/03/wikileaks.takedown/index.html>
Yes, that is what both spokesmen literally did
"I am not aware of any conversations by the United States government" - said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley.
"I am not aware that the Department of Defense is behind any of the problems that WikiLeaks is experiencing," Col. Dave Lapan, Pentagon spokesman.
Not the Department, not the Secretary, not the Joint Chiefs, just the lowly old spokesman, all by himself, who is "not aware." A weaker and less convincing denial can scarcely be imagined this side of the divorce court.
And the CNN headline, while technical true :
U.S. officials deny they are urging technical takedown of WikiLeaks
would be more accurate as
Minor U.S. officials deny they are personally urging technical takedown of WikiLeaks
which would have not nearly had the same punch.
Regards
Marshall
> Andrew
>>>>>